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An MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle crashed in Rawah, Iraq, at about 7 p.m. on March 30,
officials said. The Predator is the second one to crash, in Iraq,
this week.

The aircraft was assigned to the 15th Expeditionary
Reconnaissance Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. It was in
the U.S. Central Command area of operations supporting Operation
Iraqi Freedom.

A board of officers will investigate the accident.

MQ-1 Predator Data

Initially fielded as the RQ-1, an advanced concept technology
demonstrator, the Predator was first used in the Balkan theater in
the mid-1990s. The change in designation from "R" (reconnaissance)
to "M" (multi-role) occurred in 2002. The "Q" is the Department of
Defense designation for unmanned aircraft system. The "1" refers to
the aircraft being the first of a series of purpose-built unmanned
reconnaissance aircraft systems.

The Predator system was designed in response to a Department of
Defense requirement to provide persistent intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance information to the warfighter.

In April 1996, the secretary of defense selected the U.S. Air
Force as the operating service for the Predator system. Operating
responsibility is at the 11th, 15th and 17th Reconnaissance
Squadrons, Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, Nev.